Friday, March 02, 2012

Bailey's Bar-B-Que

I was out of town on business this week. I got back Thursday night and had Friday off, so I had a chance to ride around on The Whip for a longish ride (26 miles). I went downtown to see the new location of Trinity Bicycles... more about that later. I also had a late lunch at Bailey's Bar-B-Que. I've been meaning to go there for quite a while, but since they're only open for lunch, I haven't had a chance.

Bailey's is a unique little place. In the middle of larger buildings downtown at 826 Tailor Street, they've been serving barbecued brisket since 1931. I suppose this place has seen a lot of Fort Worth history.

That little restaurant looks out of place, sandwiched by the larger buildings. It looks even smaller inside.

But even just before closing time, people were still coming in. I ordered a sliced brisket sandwich and cole slaw. It's a pretty austere presentation.

No matter... the food was excellent. Barbecued brisket is the most pure regional food around here. There are barbecue places all around. The brisket at Bailey's is among the best. The meat was pot roast tender and moist in that melt-in-your-mouth kind of way. It had a rich, though not overpowering barbecue taste. Very flavorful without being too spicy. Just about perfect, really. I should also mention that I ordered a small sandwich and it was plenty big enough for me.

The coleslaw was okay; I couldn't tell if it was homemade or not. It was fine, but just didn't pop like the meat did. I feel like I have to stress how good the meat was, because really.... just, yum.

This post doesn't follow chronologically, because before I went to Bailey's I stopped in at the new location of Trinity Bicycles at 343 Throckmorton Street in downtown Fort Worth.

The place is coming along great. In less than a week they've gotten the place almost livable. As before, Bryan and Bernie are your cruise directors.

Yep, they seem to get along well...

There is a lot of display space as well as storage cabinets. Eventually, everything will be in its place.

Bryan insisted I take the Nuvinci demo bike out for a spin.

The Nuvinci hub has a continuously variable gear ratio. It changes from low to high gear and back with smooth, continuous transitions. It's a very cool ride. And it costs less than some of the multi-speed internal hubs. I need to figure out a use for one of these. My only complaint was the shifter. It has a twist grip, but low and high are opposite of the gearing on a conventional twist grip bike. Also, without the detents that usually come with indexed gears, I think a little more friction in the shifter would help.

Anyway, I eventually headed for home on The Whip. I'm getting used to the upright position now, and the fit adjustments are getting dialed in.

I think I will need to get a better seat for it, but the one I have is okay for now. I'm still trying to decide if I like the two-speed kick shift hub.

One flaw is that there is no way to make sure it is in low gear when you're stopped. So sometimes I start out and try to kick shift it because I think I'm in high gear. Maybe I am, maybe not.

I'll ride it for a while, though, and see if I can get used to it. Once it's rolling, it's a nice ride.